Market Information Wednesday 19 February 2020

Figures from research institute ZEW show that the confidence of German analysts and investors deteriorated significantly in February. The ZEW index reflects confidence for the next three to six months. The index fell from 26.7 in January to 8.7 for this month. On average, economists expected a level of 21.5. According to ZEW, economic development is currently “quite vulnerable” and the outlook for sectors focused on exports has decreased sharply.

Figures from branch organization for temporary workers ABU have shown that the demand for temporary workers in The Netherlands decreased in the first four weeks of 2020. In industry, the number of hours decreased by 9%, with 5% lower annual turnover. In the technical sector, the number of hours worked decreased by 21%, with 17% lower annual turnover. The administrative sector reported a 24% decrease in the number of hours, with 19% lower annual turnover.
In total, temporary employees made 15% fewer hours in the first weeks of 2020 than in the same period previous year. Turnover of temporary employment agencies decreased by 12%.

According to the ACEA car trade association, sales of new passenger cars in the European Union decreased in January. Sales decreased by 7.5% to almost 957,000 cars compared to 2019. In January, new passenger car sales decreased by 6% to 44,303 cars in January compared to 2019. In addition, in the major European car markets Germany, Italy, France and Spain sales declines were reported. As a reason for lower car sales, ACEA points to the weaker economy, uncertainty surrounding Britain’s departure from the EU, and changes in tax legislation in some EU member states.

The 6M Euribor increased with 1 basis point to -0.35% compared to previous business day. The 10Y Swap decreased with 2 basis points to -0.07% compared to previous business day.